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‘Asylum Denier-In-Chief’: Dem Senator Says Biden Should Not Resume Migrant Family Detention

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Sarah Wilder Social Issues Reporter
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New Jersey Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez blasted the Biden administration over reports  that the president is seeking to resurrect a policy of separating migrant families arriving at the U.S. border on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.

Biden is considering detaining those presenting as families at the border, despite his criticisms of the Trump administration for the same policy, according to a report from the New York Times. The news comes as the crisis at the border under the Biden administration worsens, with millions of migrants pouring over while the deadly drug fentanyl also comes in from Mexico.

“You have been critical of the new changes in border policies that Secretary Mayorkas has done at DHS. What’s your alternative and what is your level of confidence in secretary Mayorkas?” NBC host Chuck Todd asked Menendez. (RELATED: Here’s Why Bob Menendez Is Upset With The Daily Caller)

“Well, this is not about Secretary Mayorkas, this is about the administration,” Menendez responded. “The best part of the administration’s immigration policy over the first two years is that they ended family detention which proved to be a failure under both the Obama and Trump administrations as a way to deter individuals from coming.

“What we need is a comprehensive plan to deal with the border and what are the elements, the push and pull factors that bring people to this country. We need to have a surge at the border that deals with asylum officers, uses border security, that ultimately can process those who have a legitimate claim for asylum and to deport those who have no legitimate claim for asylum.”

News the Biden administration was considering implementing family detention policies at the border was condemned by many Democrat lawmakers.

“The lack of communication on immigration-related policy decisions is an insult,” Menendez said, according to Axios. “It would be like making civil rights legislative ideas and thoughts without checking with the Congressional Black Caucus.”